Re: 23.0.50; `mode-name' variable docs out of date WRT features

[Richard Stallman]

    > Stefan, could you redo that differently, then ack?

    No, it'd be a step backward.

If your aim was to change the meaning of the variable mode-name to
allow any mode-line spec, you implemented just a part of that change.
You didn't change the documentation, and you didn't fix the code that
expects the value to be a string.  The result is broken.  It needs to
be fixed somehow.  We need to either fully implement this change in
mode-name, or not implement it at all.

There are several places in Emacs that assume it is a string.  And the
change would be an incompatible change.  So unless there is some
strong reason to make the change, better we should undo the incomplete
change.

Can you offer a strong reason?